we have just noticed him starting to hump things mainly his blanket on his chair. my main concern is that he'll keep doing it to the kids lol can they be trained to only do it to certain things and not the kids or guests, i dont suppose they can can they as its a natural instinct? i know im asking some questions that are probably very silly but im knew to this the last time i had a dog was the GR i grew up with who died when i was about 8 or 9, im now 24 lol

Nothing silly about them at all. It is only easy if you know the answer, as it says on the telly!

My old mongrel only humped his bean bag, which he did a lot, but never anything else. My retriever never humped anything. Ferdie on the other hand tried to hump every dog he saw and every person who came to the house. It got so that I had to keep his lead on when we had visitors and I could not let him off lead outside. He was 10 stone then, so it was no joke really. And it really made him miserable that he could not get at the objects of his lust!

Joshua only humped Ferdie and me. He would follow me around the house barking at me, with a manic expression in his eyes which quite scared the life out of my friend. But he would dive onto the sofa and grab me round the neck and he was also 10 stone. He was in danger of breaking my neck, and I could not get him off myself. So I was forced to have him done earlier than I would have liked.

You can certainly train him to a certain object, but really there is no reason to assume that he will do it to the kids. If you see that even beginning to happen, just lead him away to what you find acceptable. They are intelligent dogs so he should soon get the message.

Some people want to stop them doing it at all, but since it is not always sexual, sometimes a sort of calming thing for them, I would never try to stop them altogether. As an example, when I lost Joshua, Ferdie started to try to climb on the other dogs because he was anxious without his friend. Since we had Diva, he no longer does it.

Don't ever think your questions are silly. They are not. A girl on another forum with two staffies actually posted wanting to know what moulting was! I thought everybody knew that, dog owner or not, but obviously it was a puzzle to her.

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I have had three males and they never humped, my current entire male is aged 7 and I would not want my dog to practice inappropriate behaviour whether that was on a dog, human, bean bag or teddy. It is revolting and there is no need for it.

99% of this is entirely due to failure of behavioural modification, of course you do get the odd dog who has a pathological desire to hump and if the owners cannot modify the behaviour then the dog should be neutered before it becomes an ingrained habit.

Ask yourself, would you allow your dog to give himself a BJ? If not why allow him to humpt?

Yuck.

that's a shame but sounds like you definitely done the right thing i think i will just see how we go, like you say he may not even hump anything at all. my mum said our GR hardly ever done it and was only neutered when he was about 8 and that was for medical reasons. i'm just glad that everyone here pointed out the facts about early neutering as my vet certainly didn't and i will now definitely not have him done at 6 months, if i have him done at all.

hmm i do find it a bit gross but i dont think i would train him to not do it at all, i wouldnt want him repressing it because ive told him to and getting miserable or angry hopefuly it'll never become a problem

You have to be careful what advice you take from vets in my experience. Some of them are very keen to neuter and spay, but then think how much they are charging for it. Same as their recommendations for food; they are usually the ones the vet has on his shelves.

When I got Joshua at only 8 weeks, the breeder made a huge point about being careful in case Ferdie sat on him or something by mistake. Giant puppies are very delicate. When I took him to the vet for his first injection, he told me to "let them play rough". Yeah right. Obviously knew nothing about giant breeds.

I would say take medical advice from a vet, nothing else.

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I like that one SB!

I had my dog neutered early (well, both my males were done at 7/8 months) and looking back, it was the wrong decision and not something I would have done until they had matured if I had known then what I know now.

Anyway, it has not affected my gundogs drive or performance. He absolutely adores doing any kind of work and his enthusiasm can be overpowering at times. I have seen a man withdraw his Vizsla from a spring pointing test because it could not concentrate out on the field, it was obsessed with the bitches it had met whilst waiting. I watched the dog before it went out on the field and it was like something possessed with these bitches, and it was entire. I think if I had a dog that found it difficult to concentrate when females were about to the point I had to back out of competitions, i'd have it's balls snipped.

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I know several dogs who were neutered around 1 year old who have done very well in trials and working tests. It should not affect his drive.

Personally, I wouldn't neuter a male unless there was very good reason - and certainly not before they have matured.

I guess I am lucky that neither of mine are humpers despite living with a bunch of entire girls.

One of my pupsters was neutered at 7 months because he was humping everything - and as a childminder - his owner was a little concerned - she did talk to me beforehand - it stopped his behaviour in his tracks. His owner now also has a half sister of his from my second litter (who is entire) and she doesn't get any problems with him at season times.

Don't be fooled though - it doesn't always dampen sex drive, and it is quite possible for a neutered dog to mate and tie with an in-season bitch.

No idea if it affects drive for working, but wouldn't see why it should unless it makes the dog generally more laid back

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I agree with Swarthy that neutering a dog will not necessarily put a stop to any sexual behaviour. I have a neutered cocker who was neutered at a very young age I believe (he is a rescue dog so not completely sure at exactly what age he was done) but a few months ago when one of my springer bitches was in season she had her wicked way with him and they managed to tie. Apart from that incident though he has never shown any interest in mounting anyone ore anything.
A neutered gundog will not lose its eagerness to work but with regards to field trials I don't know of any neutered dogs that have won any trials tbh. I don't know about retrievers but I think that spaniels lose a certain 'flashiness' once they are neutered and most judges will spot that instantly. But like I said it will not affect the dog's work ethics.

I have two intact males age 5 and 8. I seem to remember that as one matured and the hormones kicked in, that he started to get a bit 'humpy' wehn playing with other dogs but it only lasted a short time and he grew out of it and his behaviour modified.
Occasionally when playing both my dogs will try and hump each other. lol!and there are a couple of neutered males that they seem to find attractive that they may try to hump and the owners says that other entire dogs do the same so I don't know what causes this but otherwise they don't try and hump anyone or anything.

I have never had any problem with having two intact boys as far as behaviour is concerned. The eldest has been used at stud. Neither go round challenging other males and neither do they show any undue interest in bitches and are perfectly able to concentrate on any job in hand..... unless of course these bitches are in season and in that case the one that has been used at stud would not be able to concentrate. But otherwise both are totally under control, no probs.